Finding My Wings
by Gemini21
Summary: All Sarah Collins ever wanted to do was know her birth parents.But when she makes a decision that could change everything, she finds out who she is...Michael Vaughn and Sydney Bristow's longlost daughter.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Finding My Wings  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Alias.however; they would make a nice birthday present.  
  
Rating: PG-PG13  
  
Beta: Currently looking for one. If you're interested, please e-mail me at JLH0621@aol.com or IM me on AIM at JLH0621.  
  
Summary: All Sarah Collins ever wanted was to know her birth parents. But when she does, she is thrown into a world she never imagined.  
  
**** Means flashback  
  
****  
  
"Mommy! Mommy, the monster is back!" five-year-old Sarah Collins wailed in her bedroom.  
  
Chelsea Collins smiled softly as she entered her daughter's bedroom. She flipped on the light, filling the dark room with bright light.  
  
"Shhh, sweetie, it's alright," Chelsea said, sitting down on Sarah's bed, putting an arm around her and pulling her close.  
  
"It's scary," Sarah sobbed.  
  
"But it's not real," Chelsea said. "Now just count to ten, and it will be over."  
  
****  
  
"Sarah! Sarah, wait up!"  
  
Sarah Collins slammed her locker door shut and turned around. Her best friend, Lydia Bennett, was running up to her.  
  
"Hey," seventeen-year-old Sarah responded.  
  
"Hey," Lydia replied, breathless.  
  
"What's up?" Sarah asked as the two continued to walk down the hall of East New York High.  
  
"Jeff Parker wants to ask you out," Lydia squealed.  
  
Sarah rolled her eyes. "I am sick of having an on again-off again romance with him."  
  
"Make up your mind already and then stick to it then," Lydia suggested. "Hey do you want to go get ice cream?"  
  
"I can't," Sarah said. "I have to go meet Sam at the hockey rink."  
  
"Come one," Lydia pleaded. "Just for fifteen minutes, and then you can go play the sport that's going to get all your teeth knocked out."  
  
"Fine," Sarah said. "Let's go."  
  
The two best friends set off down the streets of New York. Five minutes later, they arrived at their all time favorite ice cream parlor, Connie's Creamery.  
  
"I'll have a double scoop of chocolate chunk in a sugar cone," Lydia ordered. She turned to Sarah. "What do you want?"  
  
"A double scoop of coffee ice cream in a cup," Sarah said, without bothering to think.  
  
"You're insane you know that?" Lydia said as the two sat down at a table.  
  
"And why is that?" Sarah asked, taking a bite of her coffee ice cream.  
  
"You're eating coffee ice cream," Lydia said. "If that isn't a sign of insanity, I don't know what is. Where do you get that from anyway?"  
  
"I have no idea," Sarah replied. "Probably one of my parents, but you know that's a lost cause."  
  
"So you're adopted," Lydia said. "Don't you ever get curious about knowing your real parents? I know Sam and Chelsea are great, but don't you ever want to know?"  
  
"Lydia, I was left on a doorstep," Sarah replied. "My parents obviously had no interest in having a child. If they didn't want to know me, I don't want to know them."  
  
"I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to know you," Lydia said. "Let's look at your track record here. Literally."  
  
"Lyd," Sarah said. "Don't."  
  
"You're captain of the school track team," Lydia began. "You've been voted homecoming queen three years in a row, you're senior class president, you're on the newspaper staff, in the National Honor Society, and received top scores on your SATs. And if our school allowed girls on the hockey team, you'd be captain of that too. Plus, you have that on again-off again romance going with the most popular guy in school."  
  
Sarah sighed. "Now I'm embarrassed."  
  
"Don't be," Lydia said. "If I was you, I'd be bragging twenty-four seven."  
  
Sarah's pager beeped and she looked at it. "I got to go. Sam is paging me."  
  
"For your adoptive dad, I'd say he does a pretty good job," Lydia said. "See you tomorrow."  
  
"See you," Sarah said. She picked up her ice cream, and headed out of the shop.  
  
Sarah ran down the streets of New York City, and pondered about her life.  
  
Sarah had always believed that Sam and Chelsea were her real parents. But on her thirteenth birthday, her parents told her the truth. She had been left on their doorstep when Sam and Chelsea still lived in Los Angeles.  
  
She only had two things that gave her some recognition of her parents. well, her mother at least. She had an unsigned letter that had been in her carrier. It didn't say much. Just that her name was Sarah Faith and was born on October 1.  
  
Sarah also had been found with a beautiful gold necklace. She never took it off. It had a cold chain, with an outline of a gold heart hanging from it. Inside was an "S" made out of diamonds. Sarah could only guess that it belonged to her mother.  
  
Sarah also could make a rough guess about what her parents looked like from her own looks. She had long, shoulder length, shiny brown hair, and deep green eyes. She was tall, and extremely athletic.  
  
"There you are!" Sam Collins greeted her on the ice.  
  
"Hi," Sarah greeted. "Sorry I'm late. Lydia wanted to get ice cream."  
  
"Did you get that ridiculous coffee ice cream again?" Sam teased.  
  
"Why does everyone think that is weird?" Sarah asked as she laced up her skates.  
  
"It's just different," Sam said.  
  
Sarah stood up and grabbed her hockey stick. She skated on to the ice and stole the puck from Sam. Then she skated down the ice, and made a shot.  
  
Three thousand miles away, Michael Vaughn sat at his desk in the Joint Task Forces of the CIA. He was deeply absorbed in his thoughts. He looked around Ops Center, and took in all the people there.  
  
At the desk a few feet a way from Vaughn, Eric Weiss spoke on his phone to his wife, ex- NSA analyst, Madison Weiss. Weiss had been married for a little over eighteen years now, and had five kids.  
  
Across the room, Will Tippen sat at his desk. He had come out of the Witness Protection Program twelve years earlier. He had married Callie, a buyer for Macy's ten years ago. They had two children.  
  
Marshall and Carrie Flinkman sat at their desk, working on some new invention. They had married nineteen years earlier, and had six children.  
  
Lauren Reed, Vaughn's ex-wife, sat across the room, near Will. She and Vaughn had realized neither one of them was in their marriage for the right reasons, and had divorced years ago. She had married Richard O'Connor, and they now had three kids.  
  
"Agent Vaughn," a voice above him said.  
  
Vaughn was snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see Sydney Bristow standing above him.  
  
"Here's the report you asked for," she said, handing him a file.  
  
Vaughn felt a pang in his heart. "Uh, thank you Agent Bristow."  
  
Sydney turned on her heel and began walking a way. Vaughn watched her for a moment, and then followed her.  
  
"Syd, don't do this," Vaughn said, once he stopped her.  
  
"Don't do what Vaughn?" Sydney asked, her eyes flashing with anger.  
  
"It's been seventeen years, and you still haven't told me anything," he answered.  
  
"You don't want to here it," Sydney answered. "You didn't want to hear it seventeen years ago, and you certainly don't want to hear it now." 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Back in New York, Sarah sat on her bed, working on her calculus homework. It was late, nearing eleven 'o' clock.  
  
Chelsea knocked on her door. "Hey kiddo."  
  
Sarah looked up. "Hey."  
  
"Don't be up too late," Chelsea said. "I love you. Goodnight."  
  
"I love you too," Sarah answered. "Goodnight."  
  
Chelsea smiled and left. Sarah also smiled. Then she got up, and slowly shut her door.  
  
Sarah reached under her bed and pulled out a small, red oak box. She reached into her nightstand drawer and pulled out a key. Then she opened her box.  
  
Inside were several pieces of folded paper. Sarah removed the top piece, and unfolded it.  
  
It was letter. The letter Sarah's biological mother had left in her carrier.  
  
Dear whoever finds this,  
  
This child's name is Sarah. Sarah Faith. Due to circumstances, I can not keep her. It breaks my heart that I have to leave her, but deep down I know that you can give her the life I can't.  
She was born on October 1. This is all the information I can give you. Please take care of her. Whoever you are, I will always be eternally grateful to you.  
  
Sarah sighed as she finished reading the letter for the millionth time. And after she finished reading, the same thoughts went through her head.  
  
"Why did my mother give me up? What possible reason could she have had? Does my father even know that he has a daughter? Maybe they were teen parents. Maybe they were international spies that would be killed if they had a child.nnnaaahhh. That's not possible."  
  
Sarah reached into her box again and pulled out some more paper. Based off her own looks, Sarah had tried to draw what her parents might have looked like. But when she was fourteen and a half, she realized that it was lost cause and stopped.  
  
She looked out her window. The bright lights of Manhattan blazed above. She sighed once more. Her parents could be anywhere. Down the street, in the next state, across the country, or even halfway around the world.  
  
Or maybe they were dead. Maybe that was why they hadn't come back.  
  
Sarah then saw a star in the sky. It had been a while since she'd seen one that bright. She got up from her bed, walked to her window seat, and sat down on it. Then she did something she hadn't done since she was thirteen.  
  
"Star bright, star light," Sarah began. "First star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, I wish on this star I see tonight. Please let me meet my parents. I know that I don't act like I want to know them sometimes, but I am so curious. I really would like to know them, and figure out why I wound up here. They are my wings, and I need to find them."  
  
Suddenly, a blood-curling scream interrupted Sarah's thoughts. She looked out her window and saw three thugs about to mug a woman.  
  
Now, here was the interesting thing about Sarah. Whenever someone, whether they were a friend or a stranger, was in trouble, Sarah would dive in and get them out of trouble.  
  
Sarah leaped off her bed, grabbed her jacket, ran down the stairs and then out of their brownstone.  
  
"Hey!" she yelled.  
  
They thugs looked up. Sarah dove in and punched the first one. The second thug dropped the woman, and turned to her. The third one also turned to her.  
  
Sarah never had any self-defense training. She had never done karate or Tae Kwon Doe. But somehow, she could bench press twice her weight, flip a two hundred pound man over her shoulders, and could fight a heavyweight champion.and win.  
  
Sarah shot a roundhouse kick at the second thug, causing him to stumble backwards. She punched the third one in the eye, and kicked the first thug in his stomach. She grabbed the first one and slammed him into a hedge. He collapsed to the ground. She then kneed the second one in the stomach, grabbed him, and flipped him onto the ground.  
  
The third one grabbed Sarah and pulled her close. He removed a switchblade and brought it up to Sarah's throat.  
  
"Who sent you?" he hissed. "The Covenant? The CIA?"  
  
"The who?" Sarah spat. "And the CIA? I don't work for the CIA!"  
  
Sarah brought her foot up and kicked him in the stomach. He groaned and dropped his knife. Sarah retrieved the knife, and stabbed him in the stomach. He fell to the ground, unconscious.  
  
Sarah stepped back and dropped the knife. The woman who had almost been attacked sat on the ground, her belongings scattered around her.  
  
Sarah kneeled down to help her pick up her things.  
  
"Thank you," the woman said, clearly relieved.  
  
"No problem," Sarah answered.  
  
"But, do you work for the CIA?" she asked.  
  
Sarah frowned. "No."  
  
"Oh," the woman said. "Well, thank you so much again. Can I get your name?"  
  
"Sarah," Sarah answered. "Sarah Collins."  
  
She crept quietly back inside. Sam and Chelsea were sound asleep. Sarah made her way upstairs and to her room.  
  
Sarah had been mugged four times.well almost four times. She had beaten the crap out her attackers before they could hurt her. She never told Sam or Chelsea about it. They would get too worried, and never let her go anywhere ever again.  
  
Once again, three thousand miles away, Vaughn sat in his living room, watching an LA Kings game and petting his dog, DJ, Donovan Junior. But for once, his mind wasn't on the game. It was on Sydney Bristow.  
  
A little over seventeen years ago, when their relationship was going strong, Sydney suddenly dropped out of the country for eight months. When she returned, she no longer wanted a relationship with Vaughn.  
  
Vaughn had tried to get Sydney to tell him why, but she refused. She only wanted a strictly professional relationship.  
  
Vaughn never moved on. He learned his lesson the hard way. He was still in love with Sydney, and would be until the end of time.  
  
Back in New York, a lone woman walked down the street. She was walking to La Guardia airport, working to continue her mission. She had just left 4747 Oak Tree Lane. That house belonged to the Collins. But this woman was only interested in one of the Collins. Sarah.  
  
She all the reasons in the world to be. Smiling, she reached into her black leather jacket pocket and pulled out her cell phone, and dialed an oh so familiar number.  
  
The phone rang twice before someone answered. "Hello?"  
  
A smile appeared on this woman's lips. "Hello babe."  
  
This woman could almost see the smile on the other end. "Mom." 


End file.
